Quote of the day: Human beings can be awful cruel to one another.—From The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain When I first tried to read Huckleberry Finn 35 years ago, I mentioned to my friend Frank Scott, who was Black, that I was having a difficult time with it. “Oh,” he said, “because of nigger … Continue reading Huck
Fiction
Even the Queen
Quote of the day: Thank God she doesn't have to be confirmed by the Senate.—Herbert Hoover, on the birth of his granddaughter I’ve previously written about Connie Willis but I inadvertently selected a story of hers that I wasn’t able to link to. So I thought I should correct that. So I present “Even the … Continue reading Even the Queen
Have You Read These?
Once again I’m stealing from electoral-vote.com. On Saturday they had their usual Q&A along with their Reader Question of the Week which involved historical fiction. A lot of the Q’s and A’s are worth a read, if you have the time, so click here, but I want to concentrate on the some of the readers’ … Continue reading Have You Read These?
One Ordinary Day, With Peanuts
During Isaac Asimov’s final illness, the editor of his namesake magazine commissioned Connie Willis to write an editorial for the magazine in order to help take some of the pressure off the Good Doctor, who up till then had written an editorial for every issue. In the event, Asimov died before her editorial could be … Continue reading One Ordinary Day, With Peanuts
It’s Always the Coverup
Should you ever be in the market for what is known as a page-turner, you might want to give John Sandford’s Lucas Davenport series of thrillers a try. He’s been writing them since 1989’s Rules of Prey, although I’ve only been reading them for the last three or four years. There are 35 books in the … Continue reading It’s Always the Coverup
The Shape of Things That Came
Richard Deming (1915 - 1983) was primarily a writer of mystery stories, as well as writing for some of the early TV shows such as Dragnet and Mickey Spillane. In 1960, just 10 years after he began writing full time, he had 300 stories and 19 books to his credit, and yet he claimed, “If … Continue reading The Shape of Things That Came
Rebound
Here’s another Fredric Brown short-short story which he titled “Rebound” and which appeared in the April 1960 issue of Galaxy, under the title “The Power”. That’s odd, because I think it would have been more at home in Fantasy & Science Fiction, but whatever. It’s about a man who one day discovers he has an … Continue reading Rebound
Nightmare in Yellow
Here’s another short short story from Fredric Brown. This one could very easily have been adapted for the Alfred Hitchcock Presents television program, as it's exactly the kind of grimly ironic tale that that show used to specialize in. Of course, it would have had to have been fleshed out to turn it into a half … Continue reading Nightmare in Yellow
“my second best bed” — Part 2
Constance Elaine Trimmer Willis (born December 31, 1945) writes science fiction and fantasy stories under the name Connie Willis. She has won eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards—more major SF awards than any other writer. But who’s counting? (She probably is.) (Every other SF writer probably is as well.) She wrote some time travel … Continue reading “my second best bed” — Part 2
“my second best bed” — Part 1
There have long been theories that Shakespeare did not write the plays that are attributed to William Shakespeare. After all, William Shakespeare came from extremely humble origins with little schooling, so how could he possibly have authored those highly poetic texts which drew upon a vast body of scholarship. Plus, very little is actually known … Continue reading “my second best bed” — Part 1